The curve of the iris bed echoes the shape of the supported red pine. The yellow lantern magnolia now has all its leaves. I left the soft-textured lambs’ ears flowers standing in this area, just for height.
Category: 2018
More Front Yard Color
On the other side of the magnolia is a purple smokebush and Scarlet O’Hara andromeda. Dark green rudbeckia foliage contrasts with Rheingold Globe arborvitae, mugo pine and lambs’ ears.
Pond Path
Looking west, we maintain a path that winds along next to the pond, so we can monitor what’s growing there. Alders are easily pruned and bacteria around their roots fix nitrogen in the soil, so they’re generally encouraged. Other fantastic plants that love this area are clethra, joe pye and sweetgale (also a nitrogen fixer). This area was formerly full of invasive phragmites, loosestrife, buckthorn and bittersweet.
Ferns
Looking east, from the pond, is an area where we removed lots of big old buckthorns, some phragmites and purple loosestrife. There were already some ferns and dogwood there, so I planted more ferns, mostly ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), as this is a very moist area. Just to the left in this shot is where the sweet woodruff has happily spread.
Shade Ground Covers
Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) and Virginia creeper vine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), with an occasional twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) grow in moist, deep shade underneath a large, old oak tree on the pond’s east side.
It’s So Not Knotweed
Can’t believe this area used to be all knotweed! On left, Princeton elm, center, river birches, and at right (flowering) is one of my favorite shrubs, highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum).
Magnolia at Night
‘Yellow Lantern’ (M. acuminata var. subcordata x M. x soulangeana), in full bloom, looking mighty mysterious at night.
A Clean Burn
The “milkweed river” swath stands out from the newly greened grass. The roundish area in front of the round sculpture was the burn pile. When the pile is well built, everything burns so much more thoroughly and efficiently. After burning, I raked wood chips over it, so it’ll be ready for cover crop seeds. Logs in the foreground await a second life as edging.
Accurate Felling
My husband miraculously felled these dead red pines, without harming any other plants in the border, all in about 3 hours.
Don’t Tread on This Plant
Symplocarpus foetidus (skunk cabbage) is quite beautiful coming up, and is an important plant not to step on for a number of reasons, the least of which is that it could be stinky!
